Elif Eralp, a Left Party candidate of Turkish origin, has targeted Berlin’s housing crisis, rising living costs and the Gaza conflict ahead of the Sept. 20 state elections.
German media outlets frequently draw comparisons between the candidate and New York politician Zohran Mamdani due to her grassroots campaigning methods in the immigrant-heavy Kreuzberg district.
While recent polls place her party slightly ahead in a tight multi-party race, she rejected any early celebrations during an interview with daily Hürriyet.
“Polls are not the election, so we will not get complacent, as we will continue to work for our people every day,” Eralp said.
Her campaign heavily focuses on the city’s housing shortage and soaring living costs, which she argued are pushing middle-class families and low-income residents out of the capital. She proposed the expropriation of approximately 220,000 corporate-owned apartments in exchange for fair compensation to curb real estate speculation. “A house is a place where people live, not a tool for profit,” Eralp said.
Concurrently, she criticized severe municipal shortcomings in public transport, city cleanliness and cultural funding, pointing out that poorer districts are neglected compared to wealthier commercial areas. “Our streets must be clean, as children’s parks should not have trash and needles used for drugs,” Eralp said.
Shifting to international politics, Eralp accused the German government of hypocrisy regarding Palestinian rights and its unconditional support for Israel. “Germany applies double standards, as it defends human rights concerning Russia but sends weapons to Israel’s extreme right-wing government,” Eralp said. She maintained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must face international courts, demanding equal empathy for both communities residing in Berlin.
Born in Munich to immigrant parents from Türkiye who relocated after the 1980 military coup, the 45-year-old built her career in human rights law. She completed internships at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and served as a legal advisor in the German parliament for 11 years before entering the Berlin state legislature in 2021.
Meanwhile, Eralp maintains strong ties to Türkiye, visiting annually and expressing a deep fondness for Turkish cuisine, 1990s pop icons like Tarkan and popular television dramas. “Living far from Türkiye, you miss the people, the conversations, the food and the traditions,” Eralp said.
